Defining Moment(s) that led to your decision to CCW

I got my ccw about a year ago,,,Time to defend,,,Never had any guns till then,,read about the Glockand still reading about them ,so far I have 3 ,Model 17,,,27,,and 20...going to have all before I quit.The reason for getting these is the way the economy is today with the unemployment lots andlots of people out on the street trying to survive the wrong way...............

Here in Indiana its called a License to Carry a Handgun. I've had one for almost 20 years.

At first I got one so I could legally carry the hand gun to and from the range. I carried on and off for many years but not on a regular basis. About 15 years ago I joined a civil defense unit in Mishawaka, the Mishawaka Civil Dense Special Police. They issued a GP 100. The regular cops had just gotten Sigs issued to them.

About 4 years ago I sued for full custody of my son. Some material of questionable used was found at her boyfriends house. My son decided to report it. I supported him. About 4 months later several police officers come to my house with the information that they had received a Crime Stoppers tip that my son and I life was in danger. Needles to say I was astounded!
Right then I decided to carry 24/7. And I have.

Nothing exciting here. In the late 60's I was in a business that required me to take cash from my business out of shopping malls. I aquired a "Life and Property" permit from Massachusetts so that I could conceal carry my Colt 1911 Commander. In 1989 I moved my business to Florida and applied for the Florida CC permit. Because MA was so strict in their gun laws, I wasn't required to take a course and they just issued me the permit. When I moved to Florida, I switched to Glock and have been carrying them ever since.

Today, after reading story after story. I picked up a Glock 17 a few weeks ago mainly to use for targets. I am not ready to carry yet, but after some training time, and many more range sessions, I plan on doing just that. I thought I would look/feel stupid carrying a gun. But, I can get get over all that, just knowing people exist that want to harm me, my family, or my neighbors. I do know I'm not ready yet, legally or mentally.

I have a Galco IWB holster that works wonderful to keep you from having a bulge from a composite style OWB holster. It's leather with a "plastic" belt clip. I've worn it to work when I worked at a place that forbid carry. (that was a few years ago as the last place I worked I would have been caught going through the metal detector).

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This is ok, right? I'm not breaking any rules or making anyone mad at me for this comment, Right?

Watch the news! Didn't need much more than that! I worked hard to get where I am and decided I want to stay here! I love life, my wife and family And I refuse to be a victim! There are really bad people out there and you never know if/when you might meet up with one. It's a bad bet not to be prepared.

A store owner and his son were shot to death during a robbery at 2pm on a saturday afternoon NEXT DOOR to my office (as in just a few feet away). The son was shot first and the father ran into the bathroom and locked the door. The killer kicked the door in and shot the dad to death in the bathroom.

A few months before that a college kid got his teeth knocked out in the parking lot of my office building when he was walking home from the bars.

I'm 6'3" and always thought most bad guys would pass me by and look for an easier target. However, after the two incidents noted above I realized that criminals are getting pretty brave these days so I decided I might as well start exercising my 2A rights.

I was 23 years old and recently bought my first house. We were throwing a party in the apartment above the garage (we partied up there to keep the house clean) when a random drunk stranger walks in and picks a fight with my buddy and his girlfriend. Since nobody knew who he was, we kicked him out. As he was leaving my driveway, he hit two parked cars and peeled out off down the road. Several people chased after him on foot. The guy pulled over about a block away, got out of his truck with a revolver in hand, and started shooting in their direction. Everyone hit the ground. The shots were clearly heard at my house, where I still was. Just about that time, my buddy Evan (who was determined to get the guys plate number) was barelling down the road and saw him with gun in hand and decided to take him out with his Jeep Cherokee. He drove right into the guy and layed him out across the hood. Broke both of his legs and knocked him unconscious.

While waiting for the police to get there, it occured to me that I don't even own a handgun to defend myself against the next drunken ******* that stumbles onto my property armed. Being new to an unknown neighborhood, I figured I wouldn't take any more chances. A couple weeks later, I bought a Springfield SD40 and 6 months after that, my father and I signed up for a CCW class.

The guy in my story turned out to be so drunk, he thought he had arrived at his buddies house when he came to mine. Apparantly his buddy lived 5 or 6 houses down the street. The police charged him with his 4th DUI that night. His pistol was never recovered and Evan was never charged with running him over.

I was at a new year's eve party several years ago (outside) and at the stroke of midnight a bunch of other people started firing their guns into the air in celebration. I felt like the odd man out, and vowed to never again be in a situation where I didn't have the ability to punctuate a joyous occasion with a little gunfire.

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Patrolman 1st Class, Field Training Officer, Certified GLOCK Armorer
"There is more law at the end of the policeman's nightstick than in all the decisions of The Supreme Court." Alexander Williams

I had a pit bull dog leap a third of the way out of a car window at me eight years ago. I had my G17 in it's snout. I didn't squeeze the trigger because the dog couldn't reach me (the window opening was a centimeter too narrow). But boy was I scared! I used to carry occasionally, but since then 24/7.

I've been carrying off and on for 15 years or so. But a couple of years ago, there was a robbery at a grocery store, here. 2 in the afternoon, broad daylight. Generally I feel very safe in my town, we have some really good LEOs, the town is conservative and the badguys generally don't stick around for long. But you can never relax your guard, you're never 100 % safe. I have a responsibility to protect myself, others, and my family. So now I carry almost all the time (it would be ALL the time but I work for the DoD and they don't allow me to carry). So that's it, just a simple robbery that woke me up a little bit. I carried for almost 2 years and my wife didn't even notice

i'm 59 never owned a gun or had any interest, with the events of the last couple years i have been paying closer attention to all sides views of gun ownership or not. the one constant for me was do not be a victim, so i bought myself a glock, went to sheriffs office and got my ccw and my only regret is i should have done this years ago!

!!!LONG POST ALERT!!!! I read through all 43 pages of this thread before posting my story.

New poster here but I’ve been reading this and other forums as much as possible for several years. This is a great place for sharing ideas and for Q and A. Thanks so much for starting this thread.

My moments-

-I was a teenager up to my wrists in frozen chicken in the kitchen of a Roy Rogers in Baltimore, MD when I heard yelling and see someone who does not work with me run around the front counter and point a shotgun at me, screaming, “Down! Down on your knees!” Long story short, five armed criminals forced the manager to open the safe, robbed some of my coworkers, and then marched us back to the walk-in freezer. I suddenly realized I was probably going to die. Surprisingly, we were simply blocked in to the freezer so we could not get out to call 911. It took us 20 minutes but we got out and made the call.

-My sense of outrage when I found out that my first true love in high school had later been brutally raped while strolling down a bike path by some idiot.

-My strong sense of personal and civic responsibility was further strengthened by getting married and eventually becoming a father (x2). That is a commonly mentioned motivator here in this thread and I completely agree.

-Trying to save a police officer who had been ambushed and shot in the line of duty. I've posted something about that in another section of this forum.

-I worked part-time as a crime scene-biohazard remediation specialist for 5 years. We basically picked up the pieces, decontaminated scenes, and tried to repair and replace everything so it looked like nothing happened. There were many emotionally hard jobs but one of the worst was working on the aftermath of a bank hold-up where three people were forced into the back room and executed (remember my Roy Rogers fear?) One of the victims was the mother of a good friend and fellow firefighter.

-I was introduced to guns by professionally trained LEOs and friends. I continue to try to learn as much as I can about guns, how to shoot, and how to care for them. I’ve discovered that I have an aptitude with and a real love of firearms.

-The natural and probably inevitable conclusion that all the above and my ability to be permitted to concealed carry led me to seek additional formal training, my own firearms, and mailing my CWP application off to the state.

My 70-something mother discovered my intentions to CC and I could tell she had reservations. My explanation to her took awhile and I believe she better understands the level of my convictions and the breadth of my preparations to do it properly and effectively.

I think the key element of my reasons that got her attention was when I said, “Wherever there are sheep, there are wolves. I am not wired to be a sheep. I am wired to be a sheepdog.”

Thanks for everyone’s submissions to this thread and for reading my post.

I found this article in the Houston chronicle this morning. Surprised that it originated in the NY times. It seems so simple to us... "if someone is trying to kill you, don't just lay there". But obviously to many it's a very original and innovative thought.

I was a cop for 13 years and never missed the gun as a new civilian. But I did get a carry permit. But I never used it. I live in Denver, and after the Aurora Theatre shooting I told my wife I was going to carry from that point on (we have two little kiddos). But after a few days I stopped. Then came Newtown (Newton?). Since then I have carried everyday.

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"Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!"